1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to surface electric heating element assemblies, and more particularly to a support spider for a surface heating element.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Surface electric heating elements, such as those used with electric range units and the like, require a support element for retaining in place the heating coil. Typically, these heating elements support members, or spiders, are constructed in a three-leg configuration. One approach is to employ three separate elements suitably fastened together to construct the spider. Examples of such construction can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,072,775, issued Jan. 8, 1963, to G. E. Ammerman et al, and 4,189,633, issued Feb. 19, 1980, to C. A. Skinner.
Various proposals have been made for simplifying assembly of the three-leg support spiders by constructing the spiders from only two elements. Examples of such constructions can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,271,977, issued Feb. 3, 1942, to C. I. Hjelmgren, and 3,192,361, issued June 29, 1965, to R. L. Post et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,271,977, forms two legs from a single blank by connecting the legs together in the base area thereof by a web of material, folding the material so as to place the legs in overlying relation, and bending the legs apart to a desired angle, such as 120.degree.. The base area of the legs form a socket for receiving a third leg. While an improvement on three-piece constructions, these two-piece constructions still require assembly of pieces in addition to folding and/or bending of the various pieces.
It has been proposed to construct surface heating element support spiders from a single piece of material. For example. U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,826, issued June 22, 1971, to R. L. Dills, discloses a removable support for a surface heating unit which is stamped from a sheet of planar material and used as stamped, without any bending and/or folding. Even with the provis ion of reinforcing ribs in the stamping, however, this mode of construction suffers from strength problems, and perhaps more importantly, is very wasteful of material.
Another proposal for a single piece support spider is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,749.883, issued July 31, 1973, to R. T. Vodvarka et al. This device is constructed from a strip of metal bent substantially in the form of a V. Such a configuration, however, is not as desirable as the standard three-leg spider.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,877,334, issued Mar. 10, 1959, to J. C. McOrlly et al, and 3,336,466, issued Aug. 15, 1967, to D. M. Cunningham, disclose one-piece spiders for electric heating elements wherein the spider has a generally triangular-shaped loop with a leg formed by extensions of the material from an apex of the triangular loop. The apex of the triangular-shaped loop, however, is not at the center of the associated heating element, a rather undesirable feature inasmuch as it is the symmetrical arrangement of the typical three-leg spider relative to an associated heating element that makes the three-leg spider so popular. Further, the loop-arrangement wastes material by joining together the outer ends of two of the legs of the spider, and creates problems with control of dimensions of the support member.